The invention relates to the field of cell transplantation.
The possibility of bone marrow being an in vivo source of circulating cardiomyocyte progenitors has been suggested. In one experiment, transplanted bone marrow-derived cells were observed to be distributed in a dystrophic mouse heart. Although the molecular characteristics of these cells were not identified, their location in the heart tissue indicated these cells were cardiomyocytes. The ability of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) to differentiate as beating cardiomyocytes following introduction of inductive agents such as 5-azacytidine has also been shown. Based on these findings, BMSCs have been proposed to be a source of cells for treatment of cardiac disease and cardiac abnormalities.
Despite the potential therapeutic value of BMSCs, current cell transplantation methods for cardiac tissue are clinically inadequate because rate of implant incorporation into the host tissue is poor. For example, Orlic et al. (Nature 410: 701-705, 2001) reported that only 40% of mice receiving BMSC transplants showed some myocardial repair.
Thus, there is a need for preparing cells for cell transplantation such that there are high rates of cell incorporation and cell survival.